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Richmond: SEND FAMILY VOICE

We are a local community group, formed in June 2014, in response to the opportunities offered by the SEND reforms; these are the changes in law which aim to create equal partnerships between families of children and young people with Special Educational Needs & Disabilities (SEND) and the professional services.

Kingston & Richmond SENDFamily VoicesGiving families a voice...

Closure Statement: It is with sadness and regret that we are today [22nd September] announcing that the Trustees of SEND Family Voices voted this week to close down the charity. The post 16 event with Steve Broach on September 27th will be our last public activity. Our last day of operations will be October 1st, after which our email address and phone number will no longer be manned. You can read the full statement below, and find our final newsletter with details of organisations offering parent/carer support below that.

Kingston & Richmond SEND Family Voices are a volunteer parent-led charity, formed in June 2014, in response to the opportunities offered by the SEND reforms; these are the changes in law which aim to create equal partnerships between families of children and young people with Special Educational Needs & Disabilities (SEND) and the professional services.

The SEND reforms radically change the approach to working with families of children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities. They place the child or young person at the centre – ultimately this means their experiences will be of a system which is less confrontational and more efficient. In Kingston & Richmond, there are nearly 7000 families of children and young people with identifiable needs – of these, around 2000 receive additional funding to support them in school. With such an overhaul of a system that has been in place for 30 years, these changes are going to take time to become truly effective and this means that EVERYONE - families and professionals - are learning and developing as we go.

Thank you for the notes and for holding the event. It is wonderful to feel like I have a voice that can be heard.

— 25th November 2016 - Parent (following our consultations on the Children & Young Peoples Plan for Kingston & Richmond)

What we do

We bring people together into a community to improve services, share support and strengthen our common voice. By ensuring families are heard, we aim to empower children, young people and their families to obtain the best possible care and services. We work independently from, but in partnership with the providers of children's services.

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